Decision to exempt gas turbines from sanctions right thing to do: Freeland
Canada's decision last week to send repaired parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline back to Germany was difficult but necessary, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Saturday.
The Liberals are facing heavy criticism from Ukraine for exempting six Siemens Energy turbines, which were serviced in Montreal and help deliver gas to parts of Germany, from sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in a teleconference after a meeting of G-20 finance ministers in Bali, Indonesia, Freeland said she understood Ukraine's response but defended the government's move as the right one to make under the circumstances.
"That was a very difficult decision for Canada and I understand the concern that Ukraine has about it, but it was the right thing to do," Freeland said.
"Canada is united and determined in our support of the people of Ukraine, we've contributed $3.4 billion in total financial and military support and I'm proud that Canada has led the way in many aspects to support Ukraine and oppose (Russian President) Vladimir Putin."
But Canada alone cannot provide Ukraine with the support it needs, Freeland said, adding a united effort on the part of Canada's fellow G-7 members and the transatlantic alliance is necessary to ensure that support.
Freeland said Germany was clear the pipeline, operated by Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, could be an issue for its leaders. Russia reduced gas deliveries by 60 per cent last month from its Nord Stream 1 pipeline which runs to northeastern Germany, citing turbine-related technical problems.
"Canada heard very clearly from our German allies that Germany's ability to sustain its support for Ukraine could be at risk," Freeland said. The United States has publicly backed Canada's decision to return the turbines, a position Freeland described as very significant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the other hand, condemned the decision as "absolutely unacceptable" earlier this week.
"The decision on the exception to sanctions will be perceived in Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness. This is their logic," he said, adding Russia will now try to limit or shut down gas supplies to Europe at the most critical moment.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to speak with Zelenskyy on Sunday.
In Ottawa, opposition MPs demanded Friday that senior Liberal ministers explain the controversial decision during a special meeting of the foreign affairs committee sometime next week.
The Liberals agreed to have Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson take questions.
Conservatives had called on Freeland to appear, alleging that she had disagreed with the decision that Liberals were trying to shield her testimony before her comments on Saturday.
The committee will also invite the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the ambassadors of Ukraine, Germany and the European Union to Canada to provide testimony.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2022.
___
Get in touch
Do you have any questions about the attack on Ukraine? Email dotcom@bellmedia.ca.
- Please include your name, location, and contact information if you are willing to speak to a journalist with CTV News.
- Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.
Top Hezbollah commander among 14 killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and other senior figures in the Lebanese movement in an airstrike on Beirut on Friday, vowing to press on with a new military campaign until it is able to secure the area around the Lebanese border.
Local Spotlight
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.